Pa-D's Explorations

There's One In Every Crowd . . .

2010-05-19T21:28:00.005-07:00

. . isn't there?

What does it mean to be that 'one' in the crowd? Why are you that 'one'? Are you getting good attention or bad attention? How do you feel when you are that 'one'? Do you stand proud or shrink down?

Ultimately there are only four possibilities: good attention/stand proud, good attention/shrink down, bad attention/stand proud, and bad attention/shrink down.

I think it is a wonderful thing to stand out in a crowd - so long as it is for the right reasons. Furthermore, if you can stand proud while doing so, more power to you.

Here's to doing the right thing, standing out because of it, and standing proud the whole time. So there!

A Time to Reflect

2010-05-05T16:48:00.021-07:00

We all have times in our lives when we reflect on who we are. An inquiry into what our belief system looks like; what our core values are; how we define success.

I am very much at one of those times in my life right now so it seems ironically fitting that I have recently taken these two photos. They are both photographs of reflections but that is where the similarity ends. One was taken in nature; the other in downtown. One was taken with a Canon G10; the other with a phone. One was taken while sharing time with someone I love very much; the other while alone with myself.

This goes to show that reflecting on your life can happen anytime, anywhere, with anyone. It's up to you whether or not you choose see the reflection or choose to ignore it. At the moment I am choosing to see it and make important decisions in my life that are more in line with who I am at my center and less in line with the unimportant distractions that oftentimes distract from what is truly important in life.

I Cook . . . A Lot

2010-05-05T05:49:00.004-07:00

My mom taught me how to cook when I was a teenager (thanks Mom) and I also took Home Ec in junior high - I took Shop class too before you get any smart ideas! ;-)

However I have really stepped up my cooking largely in part due to Nature's Garden Delivered which offers home delivery service of organic fruits and vegetables. The crazy/fun part is I only have a small degree of control of what I get - this results in receiving vegetables I didn't even know what they were let alone how to cook 'em!

In steps 101 Cookbooks and voila, cooking cooking and some more cooking. It feels great to eat so much organic whole food and thus the inspiration for the photo above.

A behind the scenes video of the lighting setup can be seen here.

Behind the Scenes: Super-Macro Photo-Art

2010-04-29T15:54:00.010-07:00

This is a recent creation of mine and I like to think of it as the monster that lives in my closet scaring me at night; the reason I don't sleep with the closet door open. After I created it I thought that perhaps someone may mistake it for a photograph of a toy or doll or the like; when in fact that couldn't be further from the truth. So for this blog post I am going to provide a little 'behind the scenes' on how the image was created.

For starters it is important to know that it is a composite of two photographs taken with my cameraphone. It is also important to know that I outfitted my cameraphone with a lens from a DVD player which makes it a super-macro (about the magnification of a cheapie microscope).

This is the first image I used. In the final product it is what I would refer to as a headdress; perhaps similar to a Native American ceremonial headdress. What it is in reality is a weensy little hole in the surface of my desk. Once I got it edited to my liking I thought something filling the hole would be cool. Which leads us to . . .

. . . the second image I used. This is the face of the monster. I think it looks like an evil feline monster of some type - like a Thundercat gone awry. What it actually is is a segment of the body of a dead crane fly.

Mix equal parts, put in Photoshop for 30 minutes, and voila! You have have the monster that lives in my closet.

The Relationship Between Artist and Artwork

2010-04-28T05:00:00.005-07:00

So I have been thinking for some time now about the relationship between myself as a photographer and my photography. The question that kept rolling around in my mind is whether I, as the maker, define my artwork; or if conversely my artwork defines me.

I have finally come to the conclusion the two are inseparable - sort of a 'chicken and egg' deal. I am obviously in control of the artwork I create (and/or choose to publish) but then at that very moment of creation/publication the artwork instantly becomes a defining element of who I am.

This may seem pretty obvious (things usually are once they are out there in front of you) but it all makes so much more sense now why I have such an emotional reaction to creating photographs. It's because when I look at my photos I am really looking at a little part of me; a piece of who I am on the inside.

I Shall Levitate My Way Through Monday

2010-04-26T09:37:00.002-07:00

Man, sometimes I feel like I have anchors on my ankles (is it Monday already?).

But not this guy - he's got it all figured out. That's why he can levitate. ;-)

You can check out more about him at Desert Standard.

If The Door Is Locked, Does It Matter What Side You're On?

2010-04-25T15:18:00.005-07:00

I guess this is a similar notion to "The grass is always greener on the other side" - except different.

I am pretty sure being locked in is as painful/hurtful/exclusionary as being locked out. So, at the risk of sounding trite by quoting music lyrics, as the Beastie Boys say "I got an open mind so why don't you all step inside" [no locks here sucka].

Werd.

I Think My Blog Hates Me . . .

2010-04-24T13:49:00.009-07:00

. . . and I can't say I blame it. This poor little feller's been neglected now for 6 long months!

"Bad blogger, bad blogger!"

I could write a laundry list of reasons why but I know you don't care. So what matters now is that I get my blogging ass in gear and start/keep publishing.

This photo is from a magazine shoot I was on. I was the lighting dude/assistant on this project. Props to Morton Photographic for consistently getting magazine gigs - it was his photoshoot. However, I couldn't resist getting a few shots of my own in between the real shots for the article.

Anyway, consider this the beginning of the beginning of my return to blogging.

Stay tuned . . .

Ambient Light - Part 2

2009-10-27T18:24:00.004-07:00

I continue to experiment with ambient light; I also continue to be surprised by how cool shooting ambient can be.

As you know, my normal M.O. is to figure out what I am going to shoot and then build the lighting scheme accordingly. Shooting ambient for me, however, is a completely opposite process. When shooting ambient I first search for the light and only then does the subject matter reveal itself; it's as though the subject matter takes a back seat to the light.

Amazing subjects with uninspired light create dull photographs - and that holds true whether I am shooting strobe or ambient. The biggest difference is whether I create the light or chase the light.

To see more of my work visit my commercial photography website.

Ambient Light - What a Concept!

2009-09-25T07:16:00.003-07:00

I did something yesterday for the first time - I completed an entire commercial photoshoot using only the ambient light. This was a new and unusual experience for me.

Even the drive to the shoot was odd - my gear list consisted of 1 body, 1 lens, a tripod and an extra battery/CF card. Even though I had exactly what I needed it was waaaay less than the normal kit that includes multiple strobes, light stands, modifiers, clamps, etc.

It was almost a liberating experience from the standpoint of being able to change directions and regroup mid-shoot without having to recreate the lighting set.

Don't get me wrong - I still very much love the lighting element of the photographic process; this was just a cool learning experience for me who has up until now only saw the world around my lit by millisecond bursts of strobe light! ;-)

Morning Light As Seen By My Cameraphone

2009-09-23T20:51:00.004-07:00

I have been using my phone and my point and shoot more and more to create artistic photographs and as a result have been chasing light more and more and looking for content less and less. [how many 'and's in that sentence?!?]

The simple reason is because when using these tools I am typically shooting only with the ambient light which is a huuuuge departure from my usual strobe-centric style.

These simple tools have provided tremendous inspiration specifically related the artistic process of creating photographs and I am learning that 'better light' trumps 'better content'.

There is no doubt in my mind that running around with a cameraphone chasing ambient light has already begun to improve my studio-lit big production photographs.

To see more of my work visit my commercial photography website.

Public Art

2009-09-14T15:11:00.002-07:00

I really enjoy seeing public art - there is something very gratifying about having the privilege to see the personal artwork of different artists at no charge and out in the open-air public.

I am unsure if this piece was created and installed with the intent of being framed visually they way I have done here in this photograph but it certainly does seem like such a natural fit so as to appear intentional by the artist.

To see more of my work visit my commercial photography website.

Waterjet Cutter

2009-09-12T13:37:00.002-07:00

Until having to photograph one, I really didn't know what a waterjet cutter was. Turns out they are pretty cool but I arrived day of shoot site unseen and wasn't sure how I was going to set up the lighting. Hmm . . .

The working area of the facility was lit with overhead florescents so I pretty much nuked away any ambient with strobes and spiced up the lighting a little by having one strobe 1/2 CTO'd (a little warmer), one strobe 1/2 CTB'd (a little cooler), and one color neutral. Adding tension by including opposite color temperatures (in this case yellow/blue) usually entices longer gazes.

Once the basic lighting configuration was set up I was able to move it around and prepare subsequent shots fairly quickly.

Strobist Info:
1 SB800 snooted and 1/2 CTO'd pointing back at camera
1 SB800 snooted and 1/2 CTB'd high and camera-left
1 SB900 in a Lumiquest III softbox camera right
All fired w/ PW's

To see more of my work visit my commercial photography website.

Residential Interior - Sitting Room

2009-09-10T16:58:00.004-07:00

This photograph is an excerpt from a recent photoshoot. I must say I really do enjoy putting together the puzzle of interior lighting for design and architectural purposes. This image demonstrates how much texture can be highlighted in a scene using minimal yet strategically placed lighting.

Strobist Info:
2 SB800's (1 left and 1 right) about 6' high bounced back against the unseen wall fired full power and angled slightly inward and upward.

To see more of my work visit my commercial photography website.

Having Alternatives In Cameras

2009-09-10T11:26:00.003-07:00

Photographically speaking, the thing I am currently most grateful for is the choice of cameras available to me and the very different types of photographs I get from each. This shot was taken with my cameraphone and is a shot I would have unlikely taken had I been carrying a different camera.

The reason is because of how fundamentally different I view the world around me based on which camera I have in my hand. It is equal parts 'cool' and 'freaky' to experience such a drastic shift in perception of my surroundings - especially familiar ones.

To see more of my work visit my commercial photography website.

Strollin' The Hood

2009-09-10T10:15:00.004-07:00

I am stoked with my Canon G10! This little powerhouse is so versatile and powerful. [should be getting paid to say that]

I shot these two images hand-held at ISO1600 and a respectable 1/30th second shutter speed. With a little work in Photoshop I was able to reduce the noise and get solid images even at that high ISO.

To see more of my work visit my commercial photography website.

Twitter Ate My Blog

2009-09-08T15:51:00.003-07:00

Man alive! It has been over a month since I posted to my blog!

"Bad blogger, bad blogger!"

Unfortunately I have been spending so much time focusing on Twitter as my social media outlet I have let my blog go stale. Twitter has been like these giant jellyfish and my poor blog has been the teensie little fish that gets enveloped on all sides and consumed by a merciless predator.

Okay, maybe that's a bit of an exaggeration but nonetheless I will be posting much more to my blog in the days and weeks to come so please don't stop visiting . . .

To see more of my work visit my commercial photography website.

Hell's Gate Wilderness - Tonto Creek

2009-08-05T09:39:00.002-07:00

The two photos above of Liz show two very different faces of Tonto Creek. This past weekend we hiked through Hell's Gate Wilderness and down into the deep canyon carved by Tonto Creek.

We camped right near the edge of a great water hole and after swimming up river through slot canyons for 1/2 hour discovered multiple waterfalls, grottos, and more water holes.

This place is made out of magic and awesome - I can't wait to go back and it's only 90 minutes from Phoenix!

Strobist Boot Camp II: Interior Lighting Assignment

2009-07-29T16:33:00.008-07:00

David Hobby over at Strobist recently posted the details of the third assignment of Boot Camp II which is to create an artistic, well-lit architectural interior.

It had been a while since I photographed any interiors so for the first pass I wanted to create a 'safe shot' just to see if I still had the techniques required to create an even blanket of light within a space without creating any gnarly shadows. First pass was a success from a lighting standpoint but the image wasn't overly interesting.

For the second pass (the assignment and image above) I wracked my brain trying to think of a creative lighting technique that would result in a more interesting image than what the 'safe shot' yielded. I decided to challenge myself by lighting the entire scene with one strobe. The twist is that I decided to only light one element of the scene at a time and composite the individual results into a finished product that shows lots of light coming from lots of directions.

This has proven to be a fun exercise in experimental lighting and the finished product ended up being a composite of 10 separate images.

Strobist Info:
1 SB800 fired at specific elements within the scene over the course of multiple exposures and layered together in PS to create a finished product that has the appearance of being lit by many light sources.

To see more of my work visit my commercial photography website.

Camera Phone Part 2: Dog Against the Machine

2009-07-21T12:09:00.005-07:00

We are the dogs in leisure suits.
Let's get down,
Don't let the baby drown.

Why waste time as a dog against the machine.
You are the start of our new American Dream.

Excellent little bit of 'found art' I stumbled across. I was actually ducking through some bushes to explore under a billboard (curiosity hard at work) when I found the image above painted on a wall.

Bryce Canyon, UT

2009-07-08T16:25:00.000-07:00

We recently spent several days camping and hiking in Bryce Canyon, UT. What a magical place - and the temperatures there were about 30 degrees cooler than Phoenix!

To see more of my work visit my commercial photography website.

What Is The Best Camera?

2009-06-13T11:56:00.004-07:00

Now more than ever the debate over megapixels, dynamic range, color balance, etc. is raging in the marketplace. We are being overloaded with camera data and being lured into the habit of 'pixel-peeping' to see really how good the camera we want/need/have is.

I recently read an article written by Chase Jarvis who said the best camera is the one you have with you. Well, when I came upon the scene above the camera I had with me was my 5 year old, 3 megapixel piece of crap half-dead point and shoot. What to do? Why, take a photo, of course!

The technical quality of this image may be shitty when viewed at full resolution, but you know what? I came home with a cool photo nonetheless.

Smoke 'em if ya got 'em! Metaphorically of course ;-)

To see more of my work visit my commercial photography website.

Bedtime Reading

2009-06-12T17:40:00.008-07:00

As a commercial photographer I rarely capture those fleeting moments that photojournalistic photographers are such experts at recording. Rather I create moments that never existed; I fabricate reality to tell stories that never happened.

This shot is different - he was really in bed and the scene was really lit this way as opposed to my creating a complex lighting scheme to replicate the light a child might read in bed by.

I got lucky this time and am interested in periodically incorporating a more photojournalistic approach to making photographs - sometimes its nice to reflect on an actual moment or experience that really happened in my life as opposed to the stream of fiction I usually create to demonstrate an idea, product, or service.

To see more of my work visit my commercial photography website.

Home and Garden

2009-06-12T17:32:00.005-07:00

As an artist and photographer, I repeatedly push myself both creatively and technically. For this image, I wanted to create something that had a Better Homes & Gardens type of imagery - something light and ethereal; an image that could be used to support an article about gardening or yard improvement.

I think I achieved that with this backlit image of a landscape detail.

Strobist Info:
N/A - all natural light (backlit by the late afternoon sun)

To see more of my work visit my commercial photography website.

Little Girls Have Big Eyes

2009-06-12T17:21:00.005-07:00

I recently hosted a photography party at my house. The idea was to get a group of photographers together to prepare and subsequently photograph appetizers. I had the best intentions complete with recipe ideas and lighting concepts all worked out in my head beforehand to make some great food photographs . . .

. . . so it only makes sense that I would neither prepare nor photograph any food - but I got a shot of a little girl. ;-) Oh well, the best laid plans . . .

Strobist Info
1 SB900 behind a shoot-through umbrella high and camera left.

To see more of my work visit my commercial photography website.

Corporate Headshot

2009-06-06T17:56:00.007-07:00

I made a series of Corporate Portraits this morning. I am rather pleased that I was able to use creative lighting techniques to turn this fluorescently lit office into a more inviting environment.

Strobist Info:
1 SB800 behind shoot-through umbrella camera right
1 SB900 camera left and bounced off the ceiling for fill
1 SB800 behind the frosted glass aimed at the black wall behind the "C" with a CTO gel to warm it up
1 SB800 camera right and behind subject for rim/edge/texture

To see more of my work visit my commercial photography website.

Lower Case "i"

2009-06-04T12:15:00.006-07:00

I have a Corporate Headshot type portrait session this afternoon and wanted to mess around a little with some lighting and such.

This shot is actually outside at 9:00 a.m. (granted, it's in the shade but it is still outside nonetheless). I chose an exposure that would send the ambient light down very dark to make the background very low key. The lighting is coming from one umbrella and one bare speedlight. I fired both with Nikon's wireless system (which I am pretty stoked about because the strobe behind the umbrella was successfully triggered despite line-of-site being blocked by the umbrella).

Strobist Info
1 SB800 behind shoot-through umbrella camera right and high
1 SB800 camera left and behind subject
Both fired by on-camera SB900 (set NOT to contribute to the exposure but only to trigger the off-camera flashes.

To see more of my work visit my commercial photography website.

Camera Phone: Part 1 of . . . ?

2009-06-01T19:34:00.004-07:00

I've been toying a lot lately with the idea of whether or not to include photographs I take with my phone into my stream of blog posts. Consider this one an experiment.

Would love to hear your thoughts in the comment section.

To see more of my work visit my commercial photography website.

Chihuly Glass

2009-05-27T12:07:00.003-07:00

Chihuly: The Nature of Glass is the traveling art installation of Dale Chihuly that is currently nearing the end of its term here in Phoenix at the Desert Botanical Garden.

This long exposure night photograph is HDR processed using the highlight and shadow detail from separate multiple bracketed images. This process allows images to display a wider range of highlight and shadow detail than can be captured by a camera's chip in single exposure.

To see more of my work visit my commercial photography website.

Enough Speedlights and Kids; Not Enough Time

2009-05-05T07:46:00.006-07:00

I had an idea for this picture and this isn't it. You see, I ran out of time. Gee, does that ever happen to photographers?!? Naaaahhhh! ;-)

In my minds-eye I pictured the red light on the background, hard side lighting coming from slightly behind the children, and an underexposed fill light to open up the shadows. I barely got the background and side lighting set up when I heard grandparents starting to say their 'good-byes' - I knew I was out of time.

The biggest problem I still had to solve was adding the fill light for the children which had to be completely blocked from contaminating the red light on the background (the red would have turned pink if contaminated by white light). I knew the exercise of blocking the fill light was going to take some creative thinking and unfortunately I now no longer had the luxury of time.

The result? No fill light. But I couldn't use the edge lights where they were because since they were behind the children there was only an edge light on them and no frontal detail. So my lightning fast solution was simply to pull the edge lights from behind to in front of the kids and cross-light them. This gave me enough light to reveal their faces but at the expense of very hard shadows.

Oh well - time was not on my side and even though my solution was less than perfect, I was still able to get a shot I could use (albeit not exactly what I had in mind). You gotta be able to think on your feet and change directions pretty quickly as a photographer - the world won't hold still for you, that's for sure.

To see more of my work visit my commercial photography website.

3 Speedlights; 1 Softbox

2009-05-02T11:22:00.004-07:00

I have been very interested in all types of light modifiers for a long time now. Despite having a small army of snoots, grids, gobos, umbrellas, gels, etc. the one big hole in my lighting inventory was a softbox . . . well, at least until now.

But the problem with softboxes is they are designed to be mounted to big powerful monolights using special speedrings, not my small portable Speedlights. So after some thought I devised a way to mount and use 3 Speedlights with 1 softbox.

Paul Morton (mortonphotographic) and I made this short video tutorial showing how to accomplish this.

To see more of my work visit my commercial photography website.

Plays with Fingers; Runs with Scissors

2009-04-29T07:30:00.002-07:00

So, riding high on the self-portrait post from last night [interpretation: no better photos to post] I decided to put up one more.

I am loving my new softbox and have been experimenting a lot with it. This tool will fast become a very valuable piece of lighting equipment.

Strobist Info:
3 SB800's fired at 1/32 power into a 3'x4' softbox directly overhead with a silver reflector on the floor directly in front

To see more of my work visit my commercial photography website.

Glasses: Eyeball Shrinking Distortion

2009-04-28T22:57:00.008-07:00

It has been quite a long time since I've been up to my old antics of being the last one awake at night playing with my photo gear.

The further I pulled my glasses from my face the smaller my eyes appeared but it became difficult to keep them centered when they got too far from my face. I could imagine an entertaining portrait series like this . . .

Tonight's portrait is thanks to my newest toy - a big 'ol softbox.

Strobist Info:
3 SB800's fired at 1/32 power into a 3'x4' softbox directly overhead

To see more of my work visit my commercial photography website.

Coyote Buttes - Paria Canyon, Arizona: Part III

2009-04-27T12:18:00.003-07:00

On the last day of our camping trip at Coyote Buttes, we visited White Pocket (pictured immediately above). As with this entire area, White Pocket was unique and amazing.

To see more of my work visit my commercial photography website.

Coyote Buttes - Paria Canyon, Arizona: Part II

2009-04-24T18:39:00.010-07:00

Here are a few more from my Coyote Buttes camping trip. I hope you enjoy these.

Coyote Buttes - Paria Canyon, Arizona: Part I

2009-04-24T15:22:00.008-07:00

If you ever have the opportunity to visit the desert Southwest, specifically areas near the Arizona/Utah border, take it! What an amazing place! This area is a natural wonder in every way.

I just returned from a week of camping near Coytote Buttes - what a breathtaking place. Two of the days we hiked in areas that require permits but only a maximum of 20 permits are issued per day! Amazing to have such solitude in such an amazing place!

Stay tuned . . . I will post a few more photos when I get a chance . . .

To see more of my work visit my commercial photography website.

Excited About Lighting Workshop

2009-04-14T14:32:00.008-07:00

I enjoy photographing interiors. They weren't something I planned for - more just sort of accidentally stepped into shooting them. For you Strobist readers you may remember a post about Scott Hargis - well that one stuck out in my mind because of the similarity to the work I had been doing with interiors (like the one above).

I am excited to say that I am taking the Interiors Lighting Workshop this Saturday offered by Scott Hargis and Thomas Grubba. I am very excited to be taking my interior lighting to the next level. Stay tuned, I will post an image or two from the workshop . . .

Strobist Info:
2 SB800's high on stands camera-left and bounced off (high) ceiling.
1 SB800 outside low aimed up at red wall
1 Vivitar 285 outside low aimed up at the orange wall

To see more of my work visit my commercial photography website.

Trains, Planes, and . . . well, no Automobiles

2009-03-31T22:40:00.007-07:00

I was out scouting locations today for an upcoming shoot; fail! I had no luck and went home frustrated and cranky. After dinner I decided to continue my scouting efforts and was able to get this photo along the way.

The image was created using a long exposure (30 seconds) allowing the sky to burn in and get the trails of both the airplane and the train. During the exposure I walked along the bridge popping an SB800 strobe to illuminate the bridge a bit.

To see more of my work visit my commercial photography website.

A Daffodil

2009-03-30T22:37:00.007-07:00

Soft pretty things are not my typical subject matter - I usually steer clear of photographing puppies and babies and flowers and such. However, the daffodils we brought home this week have opened into near perfect specimens and so I broke stride to embrace this soft pretty thing (at least photographically).

Strobist Info:
1 SB800 camera-right in a Lumiquest III Softbox fired at 1/32 power
1 SB800 camera-left gridded and fired at 1/32 power against background
1 SB900 camera-right fired at 1/64 power

To see more of my work visit my commercial photography website.

Being In The Moment

2009-03-29T17:16:00.005-07:00

I don't have much to say about this image other than making it was the moment I wanted to be in that moment and so that is where I put myself.

Strobist Info:
1 SB900 @ 1/8 power behind shoot-through umbrella directly above subject
2 gridded SB800's @ 1/64 power behind subject left and right fired back towards camera and into a Vcard arrangement

To see more of my work visit my commercial photography website.

More Strobe-lessness: The Ophelia Project

2009-03-28T17:11:00.007-07:00

What's going on here? Two consecutive posts of strobe-less photos!?!

Well, I guess as I said in my post below, I want to challenge myself with something different.

I was invited to photograph the dress rehearsal of a performance called the Ophelia Project which is a play that intertwines stories of and commentaries on Virginia Woolf’s and Anne Sexton’s mental illnesses and the emotional trials that led to Sylvia Plath’s infamous suicide.

This photo shoot was a lot of fun because of the constantly changing house lights. And they changed not only in intensity but also in color. At first I just figured to set white balance to Tungsten and forget about it; but the color temperature swings were so dramatic that this approach wasn't going to cut it. It took some trial and error but I found that setting my white balance to Kelvin and jumping back and forth between 2,500 and 10,000 depending on whether the house lights were purple/blues or yellows/reds worked well - this particular photograph was shot with white balance set to 10,000 Kelvin.

To see more of my work visit my commercial photography website.

A Departure From My Normal 'Strobe-Centric' Work

2009-03-25T09:16:00.008-07:00

I have grown very accustomed to all the planning, setup, and lighting that goes into the photographs I generally create - I am creating and capturing moments that never really happened. So while some photographers are amazing at capturing life's fleeting moments, others create those moments fictitiously (like me).

I wanted to challenge myself to do something different so I put my 50mm 1.8 lens on the camera and hit the streets. No setups, no models, no lights. I thought perhaps I would see a street fight or an impromptu performance or the spontaneous kiss of a couple in love. I didn't see any of those things. But I did see the two images above as I walked the streets and captured those instead. Granted, those moments weren't fleeting and the subjects didn't threaten to dash off if I hesitated, but I was able to capture them nonetheless.

Most of my work is commercial; I will call this 'art' and see if it sticks. ;-)

To see more of my work visit my commercial photography website.

Morning Run in the Desert

2009-03-21T22:35:00.005-07:00

Here is a shot from my second 'runner-in-the-desert' photo shoot. Even though this shoot was staged at the same location as the photos in the two posts below, I knew the images would have a different feel because this time instead of shooting at dusk I was shooting just after sunrise. I was not prepared, however, for exactly how different they would be.

Strobist Info:
3 Speedlights camera-right ganged together for extra power (key light)
1 SB800 camera-left and behind subject for rim light
1 SB800 camera-right and behind subject for rim light

To see more of my work visit my commercial photography website.

An Outtake - Running in the Desert

2009-03-19T21:14:00.005-07:00

This photo is actually an outtake from the desert runner photo shoot (see post immediately preceding this one). I'm a little embarrassed to admit it but I was simply just late hitting the shutter release on this one - bug on my nose or something. ;-)

But the more I looked at it, the more I liked it until I finally broke down and edited it. For the Strobist Info it is basically the same setup as below except the runner has already passed beyond the 'light trap' and so the effect is a little different - essentially just not getting the rim lighting.

To see more of my work visit my commercial photography website.

Twilight Running in the Desert

2009-03-19T20:18:00.003-07:00

In an effort to build upon my lifestyle portfolio I have been seeking athletes, fitness models, dancers, etc. I myself am an avid runner and run past this very spot on a regular basis. I have been thinking for some time now that I wanted to photograph a runner here but in my mind's eye I envisioned doing it at dawn shooting east into the sunrise.

This shot happens to be at (after) dusk shooting west into the (what was) sunset. I like the effect despite quite different than the original concept of shooting at dawn. I am, however, shooting a female fitness model in this same location at dawn this Saturday - stay tuned for a photo from that shoot to see the difference . . .

Strobist Info:
One SB900 camera-right CTO'd; key light
One SB900 camera-left for rim light
One SB800 camera-right for rim light and PS'd out of the frame
I don't have the power settings - was moving too fast in quickly changing twilight

To see more of my work visit my commercial photography website.

White on White on Black - SMoCA Nights

2009-03-13T14:09:00.013-07:00

[EDIT: Since posting below, I have been educated to the fact that the 'weird white people' are a theatrical performance called TRANSFIX performed Vessel - thanks for the correction Rachel.]

Have you attended SMoCA Nights? No? Me neither - not until last night anyway. It's a very fun party at the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art complete with a fashion show, DJ's, food, beverage, plenty of artwork, and weird 'white people'.

My passion for creating lighting setups has drawn me to photoshoots that allow me the luxury to take time 'modeling' the environment and subject using separate planes of light. Painting in the important elements; darkening distractions; working in layers. This, however, is often a time consuming affair.

I am trying to be more spontaneous in my photography - working from the cuff and capturing fleeting moments instead of painstakingly creating moments that never really existed. It is a very different type of work that flexes different mental muscles. Keep an eye out for more of this type of work from me . . .

To see more of my work visit my commercial photography website.

A Study In Bronze

2009-03-07T22:35:00.004-07:00

This shoot involved several wardrobe changes - all of which looked very nice. Initially I thought I would like some of the black and white outfits the best based on the contrast they would create against the bronze wall and chair. Funny enough though after looking at the proofs this was one of my favorites; bronze chair, bronze wall, bronze shirt. Heck, even accentuates the bronze in her skin tone!

Strobist Info:
1 SB900 behind shoot-through umbrella above subject and slightly camera right.
1 SB900 in a small Lumiquest III softbox camera left.
1 gridded SB800 on floor behind subject aimed up at wall.
1 gridded SB800 behind subject and camera right for hairlight

To see more of my work visit my commercial photography website.

Free Camelback Portrait Sessions - March Dates Confirmed

2009-02-25T11:24:00.008-07:00

[EDIT: The March dates for 'Portraits at the Top' have CHANGED. The corrected dates are listed below and are 03/15 and 03/28.]

Some of you may already be aware that I am offering a service called 'Portraits at the Top'. For the benefit of those who haven't yet heard of this, I am hiking to the top of Camelback Mountain twice a month and shooting free portraits. The twist is that I will have portable lighting equipment with me and have a mobile studio set up to create portraits like the one above.

It would be great to see you up there for a free photo and to say 'Hi'. The dates for March are Sunday 03/015 and Saturday 03/28 from 9:00am until noon. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me here.

Strobist Info:
Exposure was 1/800 at f/16 to underexpose the sky
Two SB800's fired full power using CLS high and camera-right
One Vivitar 285 fired full power using PocketWizards low and camera-right
One SB800 fired full power on-camera to provide on-axis fill light

To see more of my work visit my commercial photography website.

Sun Rising Over Watson Lake

2009-02-16T21:21:00.009-07:00

A friend (and fellow photographer)invited me to visit him up north for a visit and a photo shoot. We shot at Watson Lake outside Prescott, AZ starting just before the sun crept over the horizon. It was a beautiful cold Arizona morning and some of the snow from a previous storm remained despite a week of warm daytime highs in the 40's.

After shooting the ambient light of the rising sun, I wanted to try something a little different and use some strobes. The foreground of this image is lit predominately by strobes. As you might guess, shooting into the sun with the surfaces of the foreground facing away from the sun (toward the camera), they would have been very dark without a little help from artificial light.

Strobist Info:
2 SB900's and 1 SB800 camera right (needed lots of light to compete with the bright sunlight)
1 SB800 camera left to throw a splash of light on the left side of the main rock in foreground.
All strobes fired full power using CLS

Stormy Day on Camelback Mountain

2009-02-08T19:16:00.016-07:00

Today was scheduled to be the second installment of Portraits at the Top (the first of which was a great success) however Mother Nature had different plans for me. It rained all night and was still raining when I got up this morning at 6:00. But by 7:00 or 7:30 it started clearing; patches of blue sky with big puffy silver and black clouds. I figured the heat of the sun would burn off most of the moisture in the sky and I would be good to go - I was wrong. Just I was approaching the peak the skies opened with fury. I was getting my ass kicked by rain and hail - the trail turned into a river and I hid for cover.

After hiking back down, a hot shower, and a hot meal the skies seemed to be friendly again - same as earlier; patches of blue with big puffy clouds. I tried to figure out where the line between 'persistence' and 'learning my lesson' was drawn. Persistence won and I headed up the mountain a second time. I got rained on again. No portraits today but this time I wasn't leaving without a photo. So as soon as there was a break in the rain I set up and snapped a few landscape shots (not my forte).

Anyway, when life gives you lemons . . .

Rappelling . . . Only Different

2009-02-07T21:59:00.005-07:00

For some time now I have been wanting to expand my portfolio with more lifestyle portraiture - rockclimbing, running, kayaking, dance, etc. On a recent hike up Camelback Mountain, I saw this guy rappelling down one of the walls. Except instead of a traditional rappel, he was running down the wall facing downward - toward the ground! I had to approach him and ask if he would be interested in volunteering for a photoshoot and a few weeks later we are out in the desert shooting. He has some seriously dangerous moves like the one above in which he is actually descending the rope by sliding down it upsidedown.

We will be shooting more together and I'm sure his future performances for the camera will be just as harrowing!

Strobist Info:
2 SB900's and 1 SB800 camera left (gobo'd to prevent light from hitting the wall and diluting the subject's shadow) fired 1/4 power using CLS. The reason for so many is it was broad daylight and I thought I would need more horsepower. Strobes are bracketed and hanging from a rappel rope.
1 SB800 below subject and slightly camera right aimed upwards at subject fired full power using CLS.

To see more of my work visit my commercial photography website.

Life Imitating Art

2009-01-30T23:50:00.004-07:00

This photograph combines two concepts I have been thinking about for quite a while. The first is the composition; for a long time I have wanted to take a photograph of Shannon sleeping below the painting of himself sleeping. The second is the lighting setup; using a blue gelled strobe outside the window to create the affect of moonlight pouring through the blinds.

Strobist Info:
One gridded and CTB'd SB800 outside window high and camera-right fired 1/4 power using CLS
Two snooted and CTO'd SB900's camera left fired 1/64 power using CLS (one for the painting and one for the subject)

To see more of my work visit my commercial photography website.

The Morton Trident

2009-01-30T07:43:00.006-07:00

I have been struggling lately with some of my outdoor lifestyle photography because I didn't have a good solution to 'overpowering' the sunlight. This was not because I didn't have enough power in my strobes, but because I didn't have a way to gang them up on a single light stand to generate the power I needed. As a result I was using terrible temporary solutions like bungee cording strobes together and using multiple lightstands and such (as was the case for the portrait in the post immediately below). Then a solution was born . . . the conversation went a little like this:

Me: Hey Morton Photographic, I want a Brewer Bracket.

MortonPhoto: No you don't - you want a Morton Trident.

Me: Oh, I do? What's a Morton Trident?

MortonPhoto: I don't know - come over and we'll build one.

And then was born this bracket. I am stoked to go do battle with the mid-day sun using this little tri-fecta. And what is cool is if I shoot portrait orientation, the whole bracket will swivel 90 degrees and be vertically arranged instead of horizontal. Or if I wanted to put this baby behind an umbrella or similar diffuser, I can hang the two end strobes from the underside of the bracket creating a sweet strobe-triangle.

Strobist Info:
3 strobes in photo fired w/ CLS at 1/128 power
2 strobes (one left, one right) fired w/ CLS at full power

Free Portraits on Top of Camelback Mountain

2009-01-26T06:45:00.016-07:00

I have been brainstorming recently on ways to increase the visibility of Darren Stevenson Photography to generate more business. One of the ideas I came up with was to offer a free portrait session on top of Camelback Mountain - but there was a twist. I carried portable lighting equipment to the top and shot straight into the sun (you can see the sun behind the clouds left and down from the copyright symbol in my watermark ). The weather was beautiful - clouds rolled across the sky all morning so every portrait came out a little different. I underexposed the sky to create a more dramatic background and used 4 strobes to illuminate my subjects.

It was a great success and I look forward to the two more sessions scheduled for February (let me know if you want dates/times).

Strobist Info:
Exposure was 1/800 at f/16 to underexpose the sky
Two SB800's fired full power using CLS high and camera-right
One Vivitar 285 fired full power using PocketWizards low and camera-right
One SB800 fired full power on-camera to provide on axis fill light

To see more of my work visit my commercial photography website.

Hiking In The Superstition Mountains

2009-01-13T18:37:00.001-07:00

A few friends of mine and I went hiking in the Superstition Mountains over the weekend. We hiked up Siphon Draw to the summit at The Flatiron. It is a great hike and will undoubtedly provide you a good workout as the trail ascends 2,000 feet over a distance of only 2 miles (read 'steep'!). The Superstition Mountains are a great desert gem with a long history and shrouded in mystery (i.e. The Lost Dutchman Mine - lots have gotten very very lost searching for this mythical mine).

Because this hike was not a 'photo expedition' I didn't want to labor my hiking companions too much fiddling with camera gear and taking lots of time to set up shots. In fact, I only took 3 photos the whole day and this was one of them.

Strobist Info:
N/A - All ambient light

To see more of my work visit my commercial photography website.

A Visit to the Lowell Observatory

2009-01-03T15:19:00.002-07:00

In an effort to find something a little different to do during winter break, I decided to head up to the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, AZ with my son Shannon. This is a very cool place if you are a science-y type of person.

During the visit we looked through a few telescopes and were able to view a constellation, a galaxy, and a nebula.

The photo to the left is of the Alvan Clark telescope. It is over 100 years old and was used to discover Pluto.

Strobist Info:
None - this was shot all ambient. The key light on the left side of the telescope is from the sunlight filtering in through the door of the observatory while the dome is lit by tungsten bulbs.

To see more of my work visit my commercial photography website.

Christmas Hike in Sedona

2008-12-28T00:07:00.001-07:00

After checking the forecasts in a various parts of the state (AZ), we determined there should be sufficiently crappy weather in Sedona and we should spend Christmas Day there hiking and camping. I realize this sounds counter-intuitive, but we have so much nice weather here in Arizona that it can often be a lot of fun to bundle up in the weather gear and head out into the rain.

The weather broke long enough for me to get this shot from Chicken Point. But just because it wasn't raining doesn't mean I didn't contend with with weather - WIND! The gusts were strong enough that I could lean forward into it and stand at a diagonal.

To see more of my work visit my commercial photography website.

What Are You Thankful For?

2008-12-22T12:20:00.001-07:00

I told myself I would not get stressed this Holiday Season; not get swept up in all the madness, consumerism, and misguided notions of what the Holiday Season is all about. Well this morning I failed. I got stressed about money, gifts, traffic, and every other fool-thing that I resigned to avoid getting worked up about this year.

When I returned home and gave another look at this photo I edited last night I was given a bit of a reality check. I have the gift of freedom; I have the gift of my family, I have the gift of my health. Not everyone, whether here or abroad, has these gifts - these "little" things we take for granted many of the days of our lives. These are really the big things, aren't they?

With this, I am thankful for all the love behind the gifts that will be exchanged this year and I hope you are too.

So while concerns of money, gifts, and bills vie for our attention, let's remember that we have the control to choose where to place the emphasis in our lives during this and every season.

To see more of my work visit my commercial photography website.

Sorry, I just couldn't resist . . .

2008-12-19T11:41:00.004-07:00

. . . the stupidity of this post. Whatever, let the stupidity roll . . .

Lovebirds Outside My Office Window

2008-12-16T19:07:00.004-07:00

Today has been a gray rainey day here in otherwise normally sunny Phoenix. For some reason, it is the gray bleak days that I think to use the color shift technique of setting my camera's white balance to tungsten causing the outdoor ambient light to have a blueish hue. The strobes are color corrected using CTO (orange) gell so as to appear white to the indoor light balanced camera.

This bird feeder is outside my office window and I try to keep it full because as you can see, I get some pretty cool birds that come by to feed. This was a test run on a concept that I have been wanting to try for some time now. Perhaps a more photographically interesting example will surface in the near future.

Strobist Info:
There are 3 SB800's placed circularly around the bird feed all set to the same height as the bird feeder. They were fired 1/2 power and CTO gelled. Interestingly enough, the birds were not frightened off by the firing strobes.

To see more of my work visit my commercial photography website.

Corporate Headshots

2008-11-23T21:14:00.004-07:00

These are outtakes from a recent photoshoot that I was lucky enough to be able to shoot at the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art. It was a great location and I would like to shoot there again.

Strobist Info:
SB800 behind umbrella camera-left.
SB800 camera-left pointed at background camera-right (gobo'd to control spill into darker background space)

Strobist Info:
SB800 behind umbrella camera-left.
SB800 behind subject on the ground aimed up at background.

To see more of my work visit my commercial photography website.

I Lick the Bowl and Nobody Gets Hurt

2008-11-10T21:56:00.002-07:00

This is the look of a child that is one serious bowl-licker. You take your life in your own hands standing between him and his bowl of pumpkin bread batter.

Hooray Autumn!

Strobist Info:
One SB800 camera-left
Ambient light camera-right

To see more of my work visit my commercial photography website.

Happy Halloween

2008-10-24T17:09:00.001-07:00

To everyone reading this, whether by design or fortunate mishap, 'thank you'. Have a great autumn season and let's not forget to celebrate life while we have it.

Strobist Info:
SB800 camera-right behind white bedsheet acting as diffuser fired full power.
SB800 cameral-left behind subject for slight rim light fired 1/32 power.
SB800 on ground between subjects facing upward with red gel fired at 1/4 power.
Vivitar 285 camera-right and high providing light on 'face' and shoulder of left subject.

To see more of my work visit my commercial photography website.

Zombies Eat Brains

2008-10-19T20:38:00.002-07:00

October is an incredible month. On the one hand, it is the beginning of all the wonderful weather here in Phoenix. On the other, it is the beginning of the end of all the wonderful weather here in Phoenix.

You see, my son (pictured here trying out the zombie Halloween costume we bought today) has his birthday in October, then Halloween, then Thanksgiving, then Christmas, then New Years, then Valentines, then Easter, then 'poof!' summer's back!

It all goes too fast.

Strobist Info:
2 SB800's 50 degrees left and right behind subject 1/128 power.
1 SB800 slightly camera left 1/64 power

To see more of my work visit my commercial photography website.

Glad to Be a Dad . . .

2008-10-18T22:19:00.002-07:00

. . . or more accurately, glad to be Shannon's Dad. It is important to express gratitude - today mine is for my son, he makes parenthood easy.

For this photo I used separate planes of light for each each element of the image. There are 5 strobes illuminating the scene - it is explained here.

Paradise Valley / Scottsdale Home Interiors

2008-10-18T13:03:00.001-07:00

Just as I started getting geared up for some cool location-graphicy-poppy yoga stuff I get thrown a curve ball - interiors. Turns out shooting interiors is pretty dang fun and one heck of a lighting puzzle.

I have had lots of fun on these shoots; have learned a lot; and am I ever improving my Photoshop skills! ;-)

It seems the real challenge lies in getting the proper mix of ambient and artificial lighting - which turns out can be a rather complex series of options.

For the Powder Room, the light casting the textured shadow around the mirror is ambient. I added a bit of light up high to bound the top of the image with an SB800 CTO gelled. I also hit the pedestal of the sink with an SB800 set to 105mm and CTO gelled.

For the Dinette I used two SB800's behind umbrellas to minimize the hot spot reflections on the many shiny surfaces. I also used a snooted SB800 to shoot a bit of light against the tiled backsplash (a bit too hot I might add).

For the sitting area in the Master Bedroom I cross-lit the alcove using 2 SB800's fired at 45 degrees diagonally across the space - about 6' high. The highlights on the TV and to the right of the sofa are from the natural light coming in from the right.

To see more of my work visit my commercial photography website.

Afternoon Yoga in Tempe, Arizona

2008-09-27T23:23:00.001-07:00

Second photo from shoot detailed below. This time processed more graphic-y and commercial.

Strobist Info:
2 SB800's left and right of subject fired at full power and gobo'd to prevent lens flare.
1 Vivitar 285 fired full power directly back at subject (in frame).
1 SB800 on camera fired at 1/2 power to provide fill and allow high speed synch hack.
Vivitar fired with PW's and SB800's fired optically (and at 1/1000th!).

To see more of my work visit my commercial photography website.

Twilight Yoga in Tempe, Arizona

2008-09-20T17:46:00.002-07:00

I recently decided to create a targeted marketing campaign aimed at yoga studio owners, instructors, and enthusiasts. Only problem - I had zero yoga photography in my portfolio. Using my social media networks I was able to schedule 5 yoga models in just a few short hours. Kyna Rosen was my first victim . . . er, um . . . volunteer.

Let me just say, if you are local and have any interest at all in hiring a personal trainer, this gal is far and away your first call. She posed for me for over four hours - and that was after a full day's work training and instructing!

Strobist Info:
2 SB800's left and right of subject fired at full power and gobo'd to prevent lens flare.
1 Vivitar 285 camera left and 45 degrees to subject.
All fired with PW's.

To see more of my work visit my commercial photography website.

Kitchen Photography

2008-09-09T00:23:00.001-07:00

Some recent client work has had me photographing kitchens. It turns out creating a balanced, evenly lit, and interesting photograph of a kitchen can be rather difficult. There are many reflective surfaces in which you don't want to see the reflections of strobes and umbrellas and the like. There are also lots of islands and cabinets to block light from evenly filling (and illuminating) the room.

The kitchen photography is definitely improving my skills as a photographer, but sadly, it is improving my Photoshop skills even more! ;-)

Strobist Info:
Both photos utilize strobes bouncing up into corners for a soft key light as well as a strobe below the camera to illuminate the foreground.

To see more of my work visit my commercial photography website.

Photographing a Motivational Speaker

2008-09-05T19:13:00.001-07:00

I recently had the good fortune to create some corporate headshots and environmental portraits for a motivational speaker. It was very interesting to actually get to know someone (even if only a little) in this particular profession. Previously my only 'interactions' with motivational speakers have been seeing them on stage, in videos, or in books. Meeting 'the man behind the image' was interesting. Funny enough he and I are both from the East Coast and both Type A personalities. This can combination can go either way but in this instance I believe it worked to our mutual benefit - we both moved pretty quickly and neither stood still for more than very short periods of time.

Strobist Info:
Two Profotos left and right positioned slightly behind subject for rim lighting.
One SB800 shot into umbrella in front of and above the subject for key lighting.

To see more of my work visit my commercial photography website.

3 Nights Alone, 2 Striplights, 1 Headache

2008-08-21T22:21:00.001-07:00

I am a fairly social creature - as such being alone for extended periods of time is not my favorite thing. So for me, what is worse than being alone for an extended period of time? Why, of course, having a raging headache while being alone.

I was sitting on the couch earlier coddling my headache, got bored of watching TV, and started setting up my camera equipment. I had no plan; hell, I didn't even know why I was setting up or what I was going to shoot. It had been a while since I played around with my striplights and thought perhaps pulling them out would be good fun.

This is what I ended up with - a photo of my headache. Enjoy what I didn't.

Strobist Info:
One Vivitar 285 in a DIY striplight camera left and 1/2 CTO'd.
One Vivitar 285 in a DIY striplight camera right and 1/2 CTB'd.
Both fired w/ PW's at 1/16th power.
The background although seemingly lit with a snooted strobe is illuminated by the incidental light from the striplights.

To see more of my work visit my commercial photography website.

End of Summer Break and All is Well

2008-08-11T21:43:00.001-07:00

To say the least, this has been one very interesting summer so far. Shannon visited his Grandparents on the east coast for a month and a half. He was missed dearly but it also gave me time to dive head-long into my work; staying on point well into the evenings and weekends. It was a very productive time for me and I was able to learn an incredible amount.

Shannon returned 3 days ago; the rules have changed. I now have to ensure I am cutting off work at reasonable hours so as not to miss out on wonderful times with the boy that makes me proud every day to be a parent.

I was lucky to have Shannon run through my studio space just as I completed a few corporate headshots. The strobes were still in place so I asked if he would oblige and let me take a picture. I sure missed having him around.

Strobist Info:
1 SB800 behind a shoot-through umbrella camera left providing the key light.
1 Vivitar 285 shot into a refector umbrella behind subject and camera right.

To see more of my work visit my commercial photography website.

In Every Line a Story

2008-07-27T07:30:00.001-07:00

I was recently doing some portrait work for a client - the portraits were actually of my client's clients. The photos were all pretty 'safe' shots - nothing too crazy or experimental as I only had each person for about a minute so I didn't stray too far from center on the lighting, angles, or composition.

This shot, however, is a little different than the rest. About 1/3 of the way into shooting this gentleman he stops me and asks me if he can tell me a story. "Sure" I replied. As he was telling me the story I was holding the camera pressed up against my chest but still aimed at him. I pressed the shutter release; no idea of the composition, no idea of the focus (although I was hoping autofocus would do its thing). Anyway, this is what I got - it is probably the single most expressive shot from the day. I didn't send it to my client for review as it didn't fit the purpose of the shoot but it may be my favorite picture from this shoot.

View my website at Stevenson Photography

Joy of Kitchens

2008-07-19T04:24:00.001-07:00

I had the great fortune to do a shoot for Joy of Kitchens. She is a designer who specializes in transforming space in the home with the use of customized built-in cabinets. She has a great talent and is a true artist.

Strobist Info:
1 SB800 behind a shoot-through umbrella CTO'd and fired 1/4 power in front of and below camera.
1 Vivitar 285 bare CTO'd and fired 1/4 power above camera backward into the wall/ceiling behind the camera.

View my website at Stevenson Photography

Vacationing in Woods Hole, Cape Cod - Part II

2008-07-09T21:21:00.000-07:00

The five photographs in Part I of this post further below were all shot using a mix of ambient and artificial light. As you know, my primary M.O. is the use of portable strobes to enhance the existing light or, in some cases, completely replace the existing light. The following six photos were all shot using only ambient light. This is feels unusual for me; it is rare I shoot ambient-only and even my post work seemed out of sorts. I hope you enjoy them nonetheless and perhaps I will try shooting ambient-only a little more often.

While I subscribe to the adage that a picture is worth a thousand words, it seems I often use a thousand words to describe a picture. Not tonight though - I am off to bed because I don't have the horsepower upstairs to write much more than I have already.

To see more of my work, visit Darren Stevenson Photography.

Vacationing in Woods Hole, Cape Cod - Part I

2008-06-29T14:07:00.000-07:00

Liz and I have the good fortune to be on vacation as I write this. We are in Woods Hole which is a small village on Cape Cod, MA. The village is built around the MBL (Marine Biological Laboratory) and is full of science-y types and the mega rich who have upwards of a few million dollars for a summer home here.

Liz's family has been on the Cape for generations and own the small house pictured below. It was originally built in the 1800's as a barn for the house across the street. Over the years her family has gotten rid of all of the many properties they owned except this one. The property alone is worth about a million dollars.

Below is our bedroom - it is one of three upstairs where the hay used to be stored and thrown down through the chute for the horses below.

This is the back of one of the MBL buildings that houses research laboratories and many, many tanks with every manner of fish, urchin, ray, and crab.

These are a few of the dingies tied up at the shoreline for the many sailboats moored in Eel Pond.

Strobist Info:
All photos lit with an SB800 fired using CLS. Top 3 photos shot using CTO gel and camera set to indoor white balance. Bottom 2 photos shot using green gel and camera set to flourescent white balance.

To see more of my work, visit Darren Stevenson Photography.

Evilocity

2008-06-14T14:35:00.000-07:00

Shannon and I had another great time messing around with lighting last night. He has appointed himself the made-up super villian 'Evilocity' for this photo.

We experimented with homemade strip lights and light-painting using a bare bulb of a Mini-Mag flashlight. We took turns coming up with ideas and 'painting each other'. The photo to the left was my idea and I did the light painting. The photo below was Shannon's idea and he did the light painting.

Strobist Info
2 Vivitar 285's inside homemade strip lights placed left and right of subject fired at 1/4 power.
1 SB800 high and behind subject camera-right fired downward through a 1/2 CTO gel fired at 1/8 power.

Please visit Darren Stevenson Photography to see more of my work.

Harder Than It Looks

2008-06-07T18:32:00.000-07:00

Shannon is pretty consistently a good model - he seems to come up with something new each time the camera comes out. I do think, however, he walks the line between thinking it's fun and wishing his goofy dad would just get the camera, and maybe more importantly the strobes, out of his face for a little while.

Strobist Info
Two Vivitar 285's lying flat on the floor camera left and right fired 1/16 power.
One SB800 behind a shoot-through umbrella camera left also fired at 1/16 power.

After I took of few shots of him doing that pose, I tried it. Holy crap - see if you can do it. It is wicked hard. I'm surprised I didn't pull anything . . . (Thank You to Shannon for taking the picture below).

Please visit Darren Stevenson Photography to see more of my work.

Sport Towel

2008-05-31T13:48:00.000-07:00

A client I am working with is currently creating new marketing material for a sport towel. I have taken many photos of this product and want to share two of them here.

The photo to the left is to show how small the towel is when rolled up. The picture below shows the towel in use by a young boy standing on a waterfall feature at a swimming pool.

You can see more of my work at Stevenson Photography

Rockstar

2008-05-18T11:42:00.000-07:00

The hat says it all! ;-)

My little boy isn't going to be a little boy for very much longer. I ended up working on this project with my friend Paul Morton and our model sure was a good sport about it - letting us set up strobes all around him, tripping strobes in his face, changing his clothes, etc. But the deal was incentified with pizza, wings, and video games. A fair bribe I think.

You can see more of my work at Stevenson Photography

Headspace Carving

2008-05-18T01:52:00.000-07:00

A close friend of mine owns Headspace Carving and he can turn any old piece of wood into an incredible piece of artwork. The horse head to the left is one of a pair that sits on either side of the front door of a downtown house. The carving was made using the wood of the tree that previously grew from the stump on which it now sits - this is true of both carvings despite only one being pictured here. Visit his site and support a local artist.

You can see more of my work at Stevenson Photography

Website is up, job has been quit, time to go

2008-05-07T21:57:00.000-07:00

I have spent a little extra time this week working on my (other) site setting up a few galleries. While I recognize the need to continue improving and adding to the site, I am pleased with what I have been able to come up with so far (please have a look: Stevenson Photography)

Despite giving my resignation 8 weeks ago, I still find myself returning daily to the office. This has no doubt been the longest I have had to work post-resignation. So what does the photo to the left have to do with this post or quitting my job? Well, not so much - except I stumbled across it while looking for photos to add to my site and was surprised that I had previously overlooked it.

Enjoy, visit my (other) site, and return soon.

Ebony Carved African Bust

2008-05-04T23:16:00.000-07:00

I think I have written at least once or twice in the past about the fact that Liz's parents have done a wonderful job of collecting fantastic artwork during the course of their travels. This is a bust carved of ebony and was an interesting challenge to light because it is black. I had to balance the diffuse reflections and the specular highlights in order to show detail and dimension.

Strobist Info:
Because I took this picture some time ago, I don't remember the power settings but I used 3 flashes in total. One was aimed behind the subject to cast a bit of separation light on the background. One was above subject aimed down and fired through a diffuser (printer paper), and another was camera-right also fired through printer paper.

You can see more of my work at Stevenson Photography

Website Is How Long Overdue?

2008-04-23T22:25:00.000-07:00

Dub dub dot what? It's almost shameful how long it took for me to get a website up and running but I finally did it. The analogy of walking before running is appropriate here; it's up but it's not done. I will be continually adding to the site and growing the content. However, in the meantime, please visit and share your thoughts and comments ---> Stevenson Photography

Home Alone (Part II)

2008-04-16T00:01:00.001-07:00

This 'home alone' series just gets worse with each version, no? It's just too tempting after the family goes off to bed and I am awake - alone - and want to fiddle with my camera. This one actually started as an experiment with double diffused light because I have a shoot coming up that I think this technique will work well for. Then, next thing I know, I am monkeying around with crap like this. ; - )

Strobist Info
Viv285 camera left full power double diffused (once through umbrella then through bed sheet).
Bare Viv285 camera right 1/16 power.
Bare SB800 behind subject 1/4 power.

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A Little Ping Pong and a Little Bitching

2008-04-07T00:21:00.000-07:00

My son's friend Kendrick visited with us Saturday night for a little impromptu ping pong tourney. Great fun for all and I was even lucky enough that the boys' attention span was long enough to allow me to dash inside and get my lights and camera in order get this shot. Fun fun fun.

On the other hand, I am tired as . . . well, it rhymes with 'spit'. It's late Sunday/early Monday and I have been working like crazy tonight after the family got tucked in to print a 'spit'-load of photos for my physical portfolio that I will use for marketing purposes in an attempt to obtain some commercial accounts. I sincerely hope I am able to get some work lined up so I can continue paying the bills after my last day as a 15 year veteran finance professional on the 30th of this month. Quitting my job has been scary as 'spit' and it is pretty incredible how high and low one's confidence can be. Stay tuned . . . lot's more to come (and I can't even really speculate on what it will be).

Strobist Info
Two Vivitar 285's behind the subject left and right firing full power back towards camera gobo'd to prevent flare.
One SB800 camera right full power.

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Wine Bottle and Glass (Part II)

2008-03-31T22:37:00.000-07:00

The lighting for this photo was a lot of fun to construct but I am growing tired and unable properly explain the lighting setup. I will circle back around with an explanation after getting some rest. Stay tuned . . .

They're Outside

2008-03-31T22:02:00.000-07:00

It has been a while since I last posted a photo that did not, in some form or fashion, include the light of at least one small strobe. For this shot I used only the ambient light coming through the windows and wanted to experiment with the concept of zooming the lens during the exposure. I started the exposure with the lens at 18mm and zoomed for the duration of the 1/3 second shutter speed creating the illusion of light beaming through the windows.

Late Afternoon Sunshine - Part II

2008-03-23T17:54:00.000-07:00

Truth be told - no sunshine at all in this image. Shot indoors w/ controlled lighting

Experimenting a little more with the concept I tried to capture in yesterday's post.

Strobist Info
Bare Vivitar 285 camera-right.

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Late Afternoon Sunshine - Part I

2008-03-22T20:24:00.000-07:00

Truth be told - no sunshine at all in this image. Shot indoors w/ controlled lighting

Truth be continued - tons of sunshine in my life. Super duper wicked excited that I quit my job and am going out on my own. Super duper wicked scared that I quit my job and am going out on my own. Stay tuned - it will only get more interesting . . .

Strobist Info
Bare Vivitar 285 camera-left feathered away from the wall (to maintain evenness on background).
Bare SB800 camera-right gobo'd to allow highlights but prevent spill on the background.

Learn how to light at Strobist

NRA Jam - 03/01

2008-03-02T01:25:00.000-07:00

Today was a very, very cool day out at NRA. We organized a shoot with bunch of photographers and a bunch of riders and it was a blast. I wanted to try something different because I am so automatically drawn to photograph jumps that I don't have many other kinds of MTB photos (like this one).

Strobist Info:
One Vivitar 285 camera right high aiming down fired full power.
One Vivitar 285 camera left low fired full power.

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Second Attempt at Photographing the Elephant

2008-02-18T22:04:00.001-07:00

I photographed this elephant once before using a strobe camera-left and a halogen lamp camera-right. The result was a mix of cool and warm light.

Like the first version, I wanted there to be two light temperatures; but this time I wanted the lighting to be more dimensional.

Strobist Info:
One SB800 behind subject fired at 1/64 power back towards camera snooted and pointing up to a large white reflector overhead reflecting off the glossy ground creating the shadow.
One Vivitar 285 snooted with foil and fired 1/16 power through a diffuser of typing paper slightly camera left and partially CTO gelled.

Learn how to light at Strobist

Roots in Water - Take 2

2008-02-12T22:15:00.001-07:00

After shooting the plant with roots a few days ago (below), I was still intrigued by it and wanted to try again - this time trying for more provotative lighting and composition.

Strobist Info:
One Vivitar 285 camera-left and high aimed down but over most of the plant at a large reflector camera-right.
One Vivitar 285 camera-left and forward aimed back a large reflector camera left.
One SB800 fired upward into corner.

Learn how to light at Strobist

Rainy Day in Phoenix

2008-01-27T21:27:00.000-07:00

Today was a wonderfully rainy day in Phoenix. I had a great mountainbike ride out in the desert which was super fun. But pictures outside today? Maybe not so much - not till I have a good way to keep my gear dry. Instead, a little indoor shooting. Roots in water was my subject of choice.

Strobist Info:
Two Vivitar 285's behind umbrellas camera-left low and camera-right high both fired at 1/16th power.

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Jump Jam at NRA

2008-01-20T21:14:00.001-07:00

We had a pretty sweet jump jam today out at NRA. There are a ton of nice new jumps out there and they are super groomed right now. Big props to the guys building and maintaining.

Strobist Info:
Two Vivitar 285's high on stands camera left and right fired at full power
Exposed for 1/1000th sec. at f/4
Shot at 12mm

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Temptation . . . Too . . . Strong . . .

2008-01-18T07:36:00.000-07:00

Okay - one more self portrait. I was experimenting again with my new do-it-yourself strip lights. Seriously, these things are great - I hope I can find more uses for them as I continue thinking about different lightly applications and scenarios.

This started as a test shot to set the exposure on the two strip lights. In subsequent shots, I fired a snooted strobe at my hands and center of face for effect. But after reviewing the images, it turned out I liked this contrastier version better.

Strobist Info:
Two Vivitar 285's camera left and right and behind me fired at 1/4 power into do-it-yourself strip lights.

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Different Subject Matter Coming Soon

2008-01-17T20:33:00.001-07:00

Okay - I realize the material here lately has been reduced to only two subject matters - self portraits and photos of Shannon. I am going to switch that up here pretty soon and start in with some new projects. It's just so easy to fall into the trap of working with what is at arm's lenght distance. I am going to have leave the comfort zone of my little cocoon and start bringing some fresh new stuff here starting with my next post (let's see how long that takes).

(EDIT: Okay - so the post after the next post.)

Strobist Info:
One bare Vivitar 285 fired at 1/2 power to illuminate the background.
One umbrellad Vivitar 285 camera-right fired at full power.
One bare Nikon SB800 camera-left fired at 1/64 for hairlight.

Learn how to light at Strobist

Homemade Strip Lights (Part II)

2008-01-16T23:55:00.001-07:00

I did some more experimenting tonight with my do-it-yourself strip lights. I really like the light they create and expect to try to push the limits of what is possible with them. In the meantime this is what I came up with.

Strobist Info:
Two Vivitar 285's fired at 1/4 power inside strip lights placed camera left and right at 45 degrees.

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Homemade Strip Lights (Part I)

2008-01-15T22:49:00.000-07:00

Tonight I finally got around to building two do-it-yourself strip lights using the long boxes my light stands came in. I lined them with foil, cut a long rectangular hole out of front of each, lined the holes with 3 layers of wax paper to diffuse the light, shoved my flashes in the ends of the boxes, and voila - instant strip lights (okay not instant - more like an hour).

Strobist Info:
Two Vivitar 285's placed inside DIY strip-lights fired at 1/4 power placed camera left and right.
One bare SB800 on the floor fired straight up at 1/16 power to illuminate the front hand.

Learn how to light at Strobist

Fighting Off the Homeless

2008-01-12T19:02:00.001-07:00

There is an overpass under which some pretty cool and colorful murals are painted - ya know the whole 'beautify-your-city' kind of stuff. Anyway, I have thought for a while that it would be a good spot to take photos using a mural as the backdrop. So I took Shannon down there, shoo'd away a few homeless ladies, and set up my lights. You can imagine the looks from motorists sitting at the red light at the end of the highway exit ramp seeing us out there with light stands, umbrellas, tripods, etc. instead of the usual folks with their hands out looking for some cash.

The pictures I had in my mind were much more panned out capturing lots more of the background. However, there was massive glare on both the left and right of the murals from the light shining in from either side of the overpass. So for my first visit to this location, the composition is pretty tight to avoid the glare.

Maybe going back next time at dawn or dusk would be better to reduce the glare.

Strobist Info:
One bare Vivitar 285 fired at 1/2 power to illuminate the background.
One umbrellad Vivitar 285 camera-right fired at full power.
One bare Nikon SB800 camera-left fired at 1/64 for hairlight.

Learn how to light at Strobist